Voyage to the Past
by demdeutschenvolke
Summary: The Tomb Raider Club has only three members: Arthur Kirkland, Alfred F. Jones, and Ludwig Beilschmidt. Together they pore over the lost artifacts of the ancients, and the bones of lives long passed. One day they are invited to Kiku Honda's laboratory to partake in a project - a project that will bring them closer to their passions than they ever conceived possible [AmeGer/NSFW]
1. Go Forth, Tomb Raider Club!

**Chapter 1: Go Forth, Tomb Raider Club!**

Today was Arthur's day off. Or at least, it should have been. Cracking open his bleary eyes early that Saturday morning (on inspection of the bedside clock: five minutes past eight) all had been quiet, with birds chirping outside. A sleepy smile of satisfaction crossed the young Englishman's lips as he basked in the knowledge of having absolutely no obligations whatsoever, and snuggled into his pillow while pulling the blankets closer around his body. Ahh, bliss!

A harsh rapping at the door moments later destroyed the peace in one fell swoop.

"Arthur! _Lève-Toi!*_"

"Go away," he drawled, not bothering to open his eyes.

"You have to get up! Don't you know the time?" an incredulous and familiar accented voice retorted. Arthur's eyebrows tightened. Someone up there clearly had a vendetta against him – still, calling that one stingy canteen chef a cheap sod was not something he was going to take back, because it was true.

"Francis, if you come more than five inches past my door I will kill you with my bare hands."

"Arthur, Alfred and Ludwig are waiting for you!"

The Englishman's brain paused for a moment, as if waiting for the realisation to rise up from the depths and reveal itself. Sure enough, it did, and with it came a horrible sinking drop of despair and frustration. A muffled groan of 'Oh _God' _could be heard from the Frenchman outside. Arthur's brain unhappily faced the fact that he really had no good excuse to salvage the Saturday of leisure he had believed he was going to have. Hopes dashed, feeling lousy, he dragged himself out of bed and began to get ready.

"Tell 'em I'll be there in ten minutes," he called to Francis, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and opening his wardrobe. "Also tell Ludwig to take deep breaths," he added, smirking as he imagined how flustered the fastidious German would be right about now.

"You're getting a scolding, you know," the Frenchman said.

"Yeah, yeah."

A few minutes later, Arthur was dressed, presentable and opening the door to see a high-strung Francis shooing him out of his own dorm room.

"Go! Ludwig'll have my ass if you don't hurry up!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" Arthur snapped, swatting his hands away, picking up his pace and striding forcefully down the corridor. "Enjoy your morning frog soup!"

It was a stupid and childish insult, he knew, but right now Arthur was far too miffed to care, and turning the corner stomped down two flights of stairs to exit the building. He was immediately greeted by cool late-spring air which, sadly, did nothing to lift his mood. Crossing green he approached the main campus building of Kingsbridge College, a rather imposing Victorian structure which had previously been a grand manor house, belonging to some powerful aristocratic family in past centuries. But even its impressive aesthetic failed to strike Arthur as he entered from the west side entrance, maneuvering through corridor after corridor until he came across the door sporting a large sign with the words: TOMB RAIDER CLUB written in big, bold, blue letters.

Arthur sighed. At the beginning of their first year, Arthur had created the Archaeology Club, to which Alfred and then Ludwig, invited by the former, had subsequently joined. Their shared passion for the subject drove the club forward in spite of their small size. Several months previously, Alfred had suggested a club name change, to which Arthur was opposed. However, after much persistent pestering and the go-ahead given by the club leader (Ludwig), the Englishman was forced to yield and the Tomb Raider Club was born. No new people had come knocking, but, truthfully, the trio had gotten so used to the current arrangement of things that the subject of recruiting was never brought up again.

As soon as he pushed his way through the door, he was greeted by a very unimpressed German frowning at him from the front desk. The tall ash-blonde-haired young man was Ludwig, dressed the entire school garb seemingly out of force of habit, though Arthur suspected he just liked to show off his authority with it on. With the glasses, dark blue blazer, golden sweater, shirt, tie and violet-checked trousers, the German (club leader, hall monitor and prefect) certainly looked the part of the dutiful student. Somehow it stung.

"Ach, _there_ you are," Ludwig said, seeing him. "We were wondering where you were."

"I forgot, alright? Let's just get on," Arthur muttered.

"Hey, someone rolled off the wrong side of the bed!"

It was Alfred, whose cheery voice only grated Arthur's nerves further. The bespectacled American watched him amusedly with bubbly blue eyes, sitting in the front row opposite Ludwig's desk, leaning forward in such a way that it was clear they had been talking before Arthur's arrival. Alfred also was wearing his school uniform, sans the blazer, which Alfred replaced with his old brown one. His own sweater was noticeably faded in colour, making it suit the colour of his blazer better. People would make snide remarks behind the American's back that his merit-based scholarship was proof of his 'poverty', and resulted in his 'shabby' look.

Alfred, despite this, was quite the school heartthrob, and an intelligent one at that, captain of the football team, and almost constantly followed by his adoring fans and other friends. Thankfully, he was able to be rid of them long enough to attend their weekly club meetings, which had been postponed to Saturday from the usual Friday afternoon due to a certain occasion that only Ludwig seemed to know anything about.

Arthur scowled at the American, hovering at the end of the row.

"Well, being woken up on a supposed day off by a Frenchman banging at your door doesn't exactly encourage a tap-dancing mood," he said gruffly.

Alfred pouted and then grinned widely.

"Aw, don't worry, we're gonna have a good time." Alfred turned to the German. "Aren't we?"

Ludwig blinked, as if caught off-guard, then nodded.

"Kiku wants us all down in Lab 10," he explained. "The project he's been working is finally finished and he wants us all to see it. " The German chuckled suddenly. "He called me this morning - I never thought he could get so excited."

Arthur only looked mildly interested, while Alfred was raring to go, delighted by the news. Filing some papers into a folder and tucking it under his arm, Ludwig turned towards the door.

"Let's go."

"Yeah!" Alfred pushed himself up from his seat with vigour, quickly heading for the door, passing Arthur and giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Come on, gramps, you can sleep after we're done here!"

Arthur uttered a 'humph', but followed the other two out of the main building and across to the other end of the spacious playing field, where, within a white-washed lone laboratory that had once been part of the old science block, Kiku Honda was expecting them.

* * *

"Ah, good morning! I'm so glad you could all make it!" Kiku, a small, unassuming Japanese student clad in a white lab coat, plastic goggles pushed up on his head, hurried over to them in a rare state of flustered excitement. Surrounding him were all manner of wires, machinery, gadgets, chemicals in Pyrex containers, all confined to the outskirts of the room, bringing particular attention to the large object covered up in the centre. Kiku had been given special permission to reserve Lab 10 for his use only, which was rarely in use due to its age, having been left out of the sweeping refurbishments and left empty until Kiku got his hands on it. The lab itself was isolated from the rest of the campus buildings, away from prying eyes. Kiku had made sure his work would be entirely undisturbed.

The faint humming of engines and the bubbling of liquids filled the air.

Ludwig smiled at his friend. They had bonded in the first year over their scientific interests as well as other similarities.

"No problem. You've been talking about this project of yours since we met – we couldn't miss it."

"Morning!" Alfred greeted, giving the Japanese a one-armed hug. "So you're finally done!" When they broke away he said, looking round: "You really must've worked yourself half to death to do all this. How do you do it?"

Kiku smiled a small, secretive smile.

"Perseverance, determination, and salmon sushi," he said, without a hint of irony, before making his way over to the very large mass, concealed by a huge, heavy white sheet. Alfred laughed loudly, Ludwig smiled appreciatively, and Arthur couldn't stop a small curl of the lip.

Standing to one side of it while his witnesses gathered round, Kiku smiled proudly and said: "This, my friends, is the culmination of a boyhood dream [he had a strange habit of referring to himself as if he were an old man], years of planning and years of old-fashioned hard work. It is an honour that you three should be the first eyes other than mine to see it finished. And so, without further ado—"

With both hands, the Japanese pulled off the sheet in one good hard pull, sending the whole thing sliding away from the body of the treasure it hid and collapsing in a heap of fabric on the floor.

Arthur, Ludwig and Alfred stared, momentarily at a loss of what to say.

"…Is that a Volkswagen Golf?" Ludwig asked at last, his brain trying but failing to make any sense of it.

It was indeed a Volkswagen Golf, but enhanced for a purpose completely unlike its makers' intention. Its entire exterior was reinforced with some kind of metal, probably steel, and its wheels were similarly fashioned, and it was clear from the pistons and wires lying behind the gleaming silver rim that its wheels far more powerful than that of a normal Golf. Inside was a glowing array of buttons, dials and screens inlaid in the dashboard, and who knew what else was stored in the compartments. Otherwise, the interior was much the same as any Golf, as appearances went – polished black leather seats and all. It was essentially a cyber-Golf, built like a tank and smelling of the showroom.

Arthur stared, aghast.

"What in the _blazes_…?"

"A time machine," Kiku explained, unfazed by the general silence and stupefied looks, smiling proudly. "Or a time Golf, to be exact."

"A _what_?"

"I've always wanted to visit the past," the Japanese went on, a nostalgic glaze in his eyes as he looked into the middle distance, like an elder recalling his wild teenage antics. "To understand it, to feel it, not just through old relics and history books. I wanted to have the power to experience what the peoples of old experienced, with my own body, mind and spirit. This is the result of that dream."

"You're bloody mad," Arthur said, looking at Kiku as if he thought exactly that.

Kiku only smiled.

"Perhaps a little madness is necessary for a breakthrough."

Ludwig and Alfred exchanged bewildered looks. They were seeing quite a different side to their little science friend than they had been used to, and they didn't know what to make of his claim either. The German, always the mediator, tried to diffuse the feeling by drawing attention to the Golf, approaching touching the sooth steel armour.

"This is amazing," he said.

Kiku beamed.

"Thank you. I worked very hard to ensure the durability of the vehicle. First I…" He was off, blabbering away on which material made this and that work, what modifications he had made to the structure while keeping its shape and general appeal to the eye, and so on and so on. Ludwig listened, but as Kiku went on it was clear he was finding it more and more difficult to follow and understand everything he said. Alfred was totally lost after the first sentence, but Arthur snapped.

"Stop! Just stop right there!" he burst out. "You made me drag myself out of bed on a Saturday morning for _this?_ Time machine my arse! I'm going back to bed!" Turning on his heel, Arthur was almost at the door when Kiku rushed over and held him back, clinging desperately.

"Arthur, please! Just a few minutes! I've been waiting for this for so long ... if it doesn't work, you can say whatever you like to me and go back to your room, but please ...!"

Arthur looked at Kiku's pleading face and his anger faded, as if it had just been a tantrum. He sighed, releasing himself.

"Oh _alright_…" he relented, "but if this turns out a whole load of hogwash, I'm leaving."

Kiku thanked him almost tearfully, bowing his head several times as he did so, before proceeding to tell the trio to please enter the vehicle. They did so, Ludwig in the driver's seat, Alfred in the passenger's, and Arthur sitting stiffly in the back.

"Have you tested this before?" Alfred asked, eyes transfixed by the glimmering dashboard.

Kiku nodded, watching them with eager black eyes.

"Yes – first on some animals and then with myself. No problems at all."

"Why a Volkswagen?" Ludwig asked.

"Oh, well, German engineering," Kiku replied, smiling. "Can't go wrong, right?"

Ludwig chuckled. "Right."

"It's a GTI model, by the way. Came out of the factory this year."

Ludwig, despite having ruled out the whole idea as completely fantastical, was nonetheless very pleased to be sitting in the newest model of his country's favourite car, and impressed with the creation of his friend.

Arthur stared at Kiku as if he was looking at another species.

"Where did you get the money for all this?"

"Don't we need some space to… you know, drive this into the past?" Alfred pointed out before the Japanese could give an answer.

"Ah, no. It will be necessary to drive once you get to your location, but to get there all that is necessary is the teleportation pad the car is currently sitting on. I thought it would be a more efficient method of getting around."

The trio looked out of the windows to see it. Lo and behold, the car was sitting on a large, round metal disk.

"Then how will we get back?"

"There is a portable one in the trunk."

"'_There's a portable'_ - _what_ in _God's_ name…!" Arthur was quickly losing patience again. It was all too mad to be believed, but he had promised to hold out until proved right, so he stayed put.

Kiku moved over to one of his machines – the biggest one – and began pressing some buttons. The faint hum that had been in the background the whole time suddenly began to grow in volume. The screens on the dashboard of the bar switched on, buttons glowed white, speed dials twitched to life and a whirring noise could be heard from the pad below. Alfred was brimming with excitement, and it seemed he half-believed Kiku's dream was possible.

"The radio inside the car will connect to the machine here so I can communicate with you at all times. You also have headset devices for communicating when you are out of the car. I will explain in more detail when you get there." The excitement in Kiku's voice was evident.

"When we get _where_?" Arthur called out over the sounds.

Kiku's black eyes smiled.

"You are the Archaeology Club, aren't you? In a few moments you three shall be walking with the beasts whose bones you so love to study!"

_"You're putting us back in time with the bloody dino—?!"_

Arthur had no time to finish his sentence. The noise reached its peak and suddenly there was nothing but white. The trio yelled, shut their eyes and ducked as far down as they could for cover as they were thrown into the abyss.

* * *

They had no way of knowing how long they remained prone and helpless inside the vehicle. At length, the increased light shining on their eyelids told them something was different. An unearthly silence reigned. No humming of machines, no bubbling chemicals, no beeping of buttons. Gingerly opening their eyes, and raising themselves up, they were greeted by the sight to a lush forest outside their windows, surrounding them. Great trees hundreds of feet tall stretched for the bright sky just visible through the ceiling of leaves, the rays of the sun streaming down in thin streaks upon them. Rolling down his window, Ludwig let in the all-too-familiar smell of the trees, vegetation and the earth below. It was unnerving, how familiar their surroundings were, and yet how their guts told them it was alien.

Arthur had just opened his mouth to speak when a blood-curdling roar bellowed out from somewhere in the distance.

After the echoes had died, the radio crackled to life, and Kiku's voice could be heard.

_Everyone, I present to you North America, late Jurassic period. I hope you are not too shaken up by your journey._

Somehow in the stunned silence that followed his words Arthur finally found his voice to speak.

"Bloody hell, man…" he whispered. "What have you done?"

* * *

_[End of Chapter One! Hope you all like it so far. Feel free to comment and review :)]_

Translation notes:

*_Lève-Toi!: _Get up!


	2. Walking with Giants

**Chapter 2: Walking with Giants**

Arthur wasted no time in flipping his lid. Thrusting his head between the two front seats he shouted into the radio speakers.

"What the hell have you done?" he yelled, prompting fierce shushes from his companions, before continuing in hushed but no less furious tones: "Send us back home right now! We do not belong here! I give us five minutes before we're brutally murdered by something here!"

There are items to protect yourselves with in the back, among other things, to protect yourselves, Kiku said, attempting to placate.

"I don't care if you packed a bloody bazooka and five nuclear warheads in there!" Arthur hissed. "GET US HOME _NOW_."

"Arthur, calm down—" Alfred put a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him back. "Arthur—"

"Kiku, are you listening to me?! You can't leave me here with-"

"Arthur." It was Ludwig, whose firm, deep tones demanded order. "Calm down. Now."

The Englishman opened his mouth to say something else, but realised he may as well bang his head on the dashboard for all the difference it was making to their situation, nor to Kiku's belief that they were equipped for such a world. He shook Alfred's hand off and sat back, shaking his head.

"I said he was bloody mad… I said it…"

"Kiku," Ludwig said, taking over. "You were far too rash, presuming we would all be OK with this. Frankly, I am disappointed that you sent us here without telling us your full intentions. You just wanted us here come what may, didn't you?"

There was a pause on Kiku's end.

I apologise," he said finally, his tone that of the friend they knew. "I had been waiting for the right time for so long, and with you three, I believed, perfect for the journey, I…

"'_Perfect_'?" Alfred cut in. "How are we perfect?"

Ludwig, the natural leader, with his physical strength and decision-making skills, Kiku explained, as if he was speaking from memory, and Alfred also with physical fitness and quick wits, and Arthur with his attention to detail, sense of direction and knowledge.

Ludwig thought a moment. "Right about those things or not," he said, "this environment is life-threatening. There is a high chance that we will be injured or killed, as Arthur said. I think you should bring us home, Kiku. I do not want to risk this."

"Me neither," Alfred agreed. "Take us home, buddy."

Another pause.

Everyone— Suddenly there was a burst of static from the radio, and splutters of words could be heard, fast disjointing.

"Kiku? Kiku, are you there?" Ludwig cried. "Take us home, now!"

"Kiku!" Alfred shouted, panic rising in his voice.

"Kiku, you bastard!" Arthur barked, throwing himself forward as if the force of his words could kick-start the transmission. "You're not leaving us here! Kiku!"

No use. The garbled sounds sputtered once, twice, fizzled out, and died out. Silence. All three stared at the radio, as if trying to comprehend what had just occurred.

"I don't believe it," Arthur murmured, leaning back and putting a hand to his forehead, an angry, disbelieving smile on his face. "I don't _believe it_!"

"Arthur, calm down," Ludwig said, as much to keep his own head as the others. "There's no time to lose it. There must be some complication on Kiku's end. We will just have to wait until it is fixed."

"I don't think sitting around is a good idea," Alfred said, looking out his window. "We're sitting ducks here. I don't know what defences this car has, but we can't rely on it to protect us from that thing that roared earlier."

"So what do you suggest?" Arthur asked, sarcasm biting. "Walk out and find it? Ask it to tea?"

"No," the American replied, frowning at the Englishman over his shoulder. "We gear ourselves up with the things Kiku mentioned, bring along the spare teleportation pad—"

"Wait, that's it! The spare teleportation pad!" Arthur cried, jumping upright. "We can use that to get home!"

"But what if we can't figure out how to use it? And I'm sure we need some action on Kiku's end for it to activate. From the way he got ours going, that's very likely."

"So we're stuck until that self-righteous loon fixes the 'problem' he encountered—"

Ludwig looked at him, bewildered.

"Arthur, you're not seriously suggesting he—"

"—we're stuck here?"

The trio looked at each other in silence.

"We're stuck," Ludwig concluded gravely. "But at least we're not completely without options, or defenses. Let's check the trunk."

Alfred sighed.

"Alright."

Opening their respective doors, they were greeted by the full brunt of the ever familiar smell of forest vegetation and earth. Gathering around the boot, Ludwig opened it up to reveal a smaller version of the teleportation pad which had sent them here, rucksacks for each of them (which were, on closer inspection, full of necessities), camouflaged protective gear, and weapons. These were powerful rifles, knives, grenades and hand guns. Bullets, of course, came with them.

"Jesus," Alfred muttered, equipping himself with the gear and the arms, "we're going into a war zone, guys."

Neither of his fellow club members responded. They felt the same way, and didn't like it one bit. An air of grim resignation hung over them, and each was dealing with it in his own way, silently. They didn't like how well-prepared they were, inasmuch as Kiku had planned every detail of their journey, if that it was, to great expense and length. It made them uncomfortable because they were afraid and alone in a vast continent full of beasts that would gladly rip them apart. They were not in control of anything here – here they were the prey fighting to survive. It was a terrible irony that seemed to have been lost on Kiku, so hell-bent on achieving his dream as he was. But he had already tested the time machine himself, several times, with no problems – why bother sending the three of them back in time at all, let alone this far? Had he wanted them to collect something? Had he merely wanted to test how far back he could go? With communications down, there was no way of knowing for sure, so the three tried to put the uneasy matter to bed for now.

After inspecting the spare pad, it was soon clear they would be just as rash and stupid as Kiku had been to tamper with something they had no definite control over.

They were indeed well and truly stuck.

They found the little headsets Kiku had mentioned for use between themselves and as a way to speak to the Japanese man while moving independent of the time machine. Tuning them, they were relieved to find the things worked at least so they could talk to each other, while Kiku was still, they hoped, tackling problems on his end. Rifle in hand, Ludwig looked ahead into the dense foliage ahead of them. A primal screech of a winged creature far above their heads made them jolt and freeze.

Gathering courage, eyes set dead ahead, not knowing what else to do but go forwards, Ludwig spearheaded the way.

"Let's go."

And so they marched on through the forest of aliens, eyes watching, weapons at the ready, keeping close together for fear of the beasts that ruled this land.

* * *

As time went on the anxiety of their situation gradually relaxed as they absorbed more and more of this strange world they had entered, and the trio began to regard their surroundings as objects of interest rather than concealers of potential death. Arthur in particular was pleased by the various ancient flora and fauna they passed. Aside from the occasional screech of birdlike creatures from the trees and scuttling, shivering of smaller ones in the undergrowth, no large animals came into view. Still, they did not speak a word to one another.

After an hour, Ludwig spied glimpses of open grassland in the gaps between the trees a little further away.

"Look, there!" he whispered to the others, who saw and cheered up considerably. Hurrying with as much caution as they could in their eagerness to escape the deep uncertainty of the forest, the trio crossed into a fairy flat, grassy terrain populated by clusters of conifer (evergreen) trees, shrubs and other vegetation that small-sized herbivores were busy with. Arthur, Alfred and Ludwig stared, enraptured by them, as they took their first steps forward.

Arthur pointed to a particularly temperamental little dinosaur giving its partner an irritated nip as they jostled for the same branch of a yew tree. It was a horn-billed, bi-pedal creature with short arms and a stiff tail that gave balance to the rest of its body, keeping it upright as it rummaged for food.

"My God, that's… that's a Dryosaurus, isn't it?" he said breathlessly, eyes wide with boyish excitement. He then spotted the famed plated dinosaur and nearly lost it. "That's Stegosaurus! Christ Almighty… if I'm dreaming right now I'm going to be bloody annoyed when I wake up!"

"You're not dreaming, Arthur," Alfred assured, smiling, unable to take his eyes away from the scene. "This is real. Unless you want me to pinch you real quick."

"I'd be happy if you didn't."

"Guys, don't lose focus here," Ludwig warned, fighting to keep amazement from getting to his head. "Things can change very quickly. Keep your weapons up."

Gathering themselves, the trio slowly advanced with the specific aim of taking shelter under one of the trees, away from the grazing creatures so as not to spook them. The last thing they wanted was to be at the mercy of these frightened but powerful beasts in a panic, especially Stegosaurus's deadly tail. Also, having exited the pleasant shade of the forest, they quickly felt how hot it was, with the sun blazing mercilessly down and creating a dizzying haze if one looked into the distance. While in relative safety they could properly evaluate the contents of their rucksacks.

Nearing as quietly as they could, Arthur spotted a mass of something in the corner of his left eyes and froze.

"Stop," he whispered. "Look!"

The other two halted and turned to see what Arthur was looking at, and felt their stomachs drop. A herd of Brachiosaurus was making its slow, almost majestic way towards them. They were far away, so it was difficult to tell how many of them there were, but all the same the trio got clean out of their path to observe from the shade of the yew tree. Scrambling to the ground under its branches they stared, agape, at the slowly approaching giants, their hearts racing as at intervals one would give a low, almost mournful cry that seemed to rumble in their ribcages.

The famed sauropods had inclined necks, which enhanced their imposing natures as they ploddingly advanced, their tail shorter than most of their kind in relation to this and their great grey bodies. Yanking off his rucksack Arthur scrabbled inside.

"There'd better be some binoculars in here…ah!" Grabbing the desired object in his hands Arthur wasted no time in putting it to his face and looking closely than either of his two companions at the great creatures, all up to or approaching nine foot (thirty metres) in height. Snapped out of their stupor Ludwig and Alfred followed suit, and they spent several moments gazing silently in awe at the spectacle. As much as they were uneasy and angry with their situation, they could not help but be blown away by everything.

Eventually, the entire heard was making their way past them, their enormous, lumbering bodies moving in much the same pace, grouped together to better protect themselves in numbers.

"Bloody hell… bloody hell…" Arthur kept muttering as the thundering of their enormous feet continued in a slow, thrilling momentum.

Alfred grinned.

"Arthur, your British is showing," he teased.

"I am British, you idiot," Arthur muttered back, while Alfred only chuckled.

"Oh, look – look, it's a baby one!" Ludwig gasped suddenly, pointing to the creature with one hand as his other held the binoculars up. The little one plodded close by its mother, both creatures situated in the middle of the herd, protected by a ring of companions, as were the weaker members, for protection.

Alfred chuckled again.

"You were always a sucker for babies, Luddy," he said, giving the now embarrassed German a playful nudge.

"W-well…"

"You want one, don't you?"

"I would have serious problems getting it through my front door, let alone..."

The American laughed.

"That's the only problem?"

"Well, no, obviously there are other issues…"

"If you two parents-to-be would quieten down I'd be grateful," Arthur cut in, eyes still trained on the herd. "I don't want us to be spotted by anything dangerous. I believe it was you who told us to keep focus here?" he reminded Ludwig, giving the German a pointed glance.

The other two said nothing, exchanging looks as Arthur turned away, before returning to observing the Brachiosaurus, now almost having passed them by.

Suddenly there was a rush of movement that made Arthur and Ludwig jolt as Alfred, with no warning whatsoever, got to his feet and started running towards the tail-end of the herd, a clump of ferns in his hand. The plant in question had been lying near the tree they were under, and Alfred had grabbed them mid-run along with his rucksack, which he slung on his back. Both Ludwig and Alfred were up in arms in disbelief.

"ALFRED," they hissed, as loudly as they could, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET BACK HERE!"

But Alfred was not listening, and they could only watch as the American slowed to a trot and then a stop close to the giants, pitifully dwarfing him, though seemingly concerned by his presence, plodding on the same as they had been before. Holding up an arm, Alfred presented the huge leaves to the giants. Soon one dinosaur paused a moment, noticing the greenery, and dropped a huge neck down to take the leaves. In a blink of an eye the plant was gone, and a few moments later Alfred was climbing up its tail and, after a few pauses for breath, up onto its back, waving at his stunned friends.

"C'mon guys, let's go for a ride!" he called. Ludwig and Arthur needed no more persuasion, and copied Alfred's tactic, picking out a Brachiosaurus close by the American and going about getting themselves a 'seat'. Ludwig accomplished this without any problem, but Arthur was not so athletically inclined, and was still clutching the top part of his creature's rough, leathery tail when the other two were already seated on the backs of theirs. Gasping for breath, he almost slipped, but clung stubbornly on. The rucksack and rifle on his back were obvious hinderers.

"You can do it, Arthur!" Alfred encouraged. "Go slowly!"

"Take deep breaths as you go!" Ludwig added, looking down at the dangling figure with concern.

Arthur closed his eyes, gathering his breath as well as his strength, before making another gargantuan effort to climb, bit by bit, up the rest of the tail, using hands and feet to secure and grip as he pulled his body up, up, and onto the grey back of the gentle beast. Achieving this with one last haul, he fell forward and lay panting.

Alfred cheered.

"Way to go, Arthur!"

Ludwig smiled in relief.

"Well done, friend."

Arthur, too exhausted to speak just then, raised a thumbs-up in the air by way of thanks. They'd done it; giving themselves transport and some means of safety until Kiku managed to resume contact with their headset microphones. As they approached the gathering of smaller herbivores they had seen previously, they opened up their rucksacks and got out the bottles of water stored inside, trying not to think of how many days these supplies would last them, and what they would do should they run out.


End file.
